ARGVMI~1.PIF

@nprofile…0hqx
What medium do you use to carry the bits?
In the old days, that'd have been floppy disks, but the modern equivalent is USB flash drives, and plugging strange USB flash drives into your computer is a well-known security no-no.

2026-07-03 18:24:14 UTC

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@nprofile…sfce
I hope nobody viewing this has trypophobia, because yikes.

2026-07-02 01:48:16 UTC

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@nprofile…2w4e
What other DRM-free game stores did you have in mind? I only know of GOG and itch.io.

2026-07-01 23:20:26 UTC

In light of the recent #Sony #PlayStation news, I'd like to remind everyone that GOG exists.
Every game there has no DRM. Once you buy one, no one can take it away from you. Not without breaking down your door and prying it from your cold dead hands, anyway.
https://www.gog.com/
#gaming

2026-06-19 22:38:09 UTC

Hoo boy. I can read source code just fine, evaluate it in my head, understand the math. Looping, recursion, no problem.
But show me the equivalent function in mathematical notation, and I'm like 🫩🫠 may as well be the language of aliens from another galaxy.
Guess I should've studied harder in school instead of nerding out on the computer as a kid…
Please tell me I'm not the only one who's like this.
#programming

2026-06-14 04:26:51 UTC

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@nprofile…2xys
Yes, except that part. Obviously I only want one if I can run Linux on it!

2026-06-14 04:15:23 UTC

I want one.
https://gpdstore.net/gpd-win-4-2025/
My eyes would hate me if I had one, but I still want one!

2026-06-10 22:35:46 UTC

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@nprofile…vcgd
Can it transfer over a USB-C cable from one phone directly to another?
It used to be that, when setting up a new Google Pixel, one could transfer everything from the old phone to the new one using such a cable. It was pretty slick, quite fast, and didn't waste anybody's bandwidth. Both phones' batteries needed to be charged, though, since this occupies the charging port and takes a while.
Despite the drawbacks, I was still sad when this method became unavailable.
@nprofile…smgy

2026-06-10 16:45:55 UTC

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@nprofile…smgy
80MB/sec is impressively fast for Wi-Fi. I wouldn't expect anywhere near that kind of performance.
I live in an apartment, though. The radio chatter around here is intense. Wi-Fi barely works at all.

2026-06-10 16:36:24 UTC

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@nprofile…smgy
Sync over USB would be good though. Nothing's faster than wired.

2026-06-07 04:15:11 UTC

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@nprofile…hz92
How'm I gonna stop some big mean Marauder from tearin' me a structurally-superfluous new exhaust port?
The answer: use a laser, and if that don't work, use *more* laser.

2026-06-05 19:41:13 UTC

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That and I'll have to never use JavaScript on the server side ever again.
Only using ancient code to compile CSS is well and good, but only using ancient code in server-based applications is a horrible idea and will also result in hax.
Good thing my org doesn't use server-side JavaScript… 🙏

2026-06-05 19:39:45 UTC

I see that modern #npm has a `before` option that prohibits installing package versions released after a certain date.
Excellent. I'll just go ahead and set that to forever ago, before “all your supply chain are belong to us” happened.
Now I just have to hope and pray that Node.js, npm, and the npm registry don't get supply-chained themselves…
#programming

2026-06-04 20:33:04 UTC

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@nprofile…6wyp
In this case, it's pretty simple: the human is the mutex. Humans can't cut or paste in more than one place at the same time.
Humans are also slow, so `CloseClipboard` will fully complete long before the human is able to do another clipboard action.
This is very not great for accessing the clipboard in an automated way, but automated access to the clipboard is basically nonexistent aside from tests of clipboard-related code.
Unfortunately, I have tests of clipboard-related code.

2026-06-04 20:25:16 UTC

So yeah, apparently the #Windows #Win32 function `CloseClipboard` doesn't actually close the clipboard right away.
There is no guarantee that immediately calling `OpenClipboard` will succeed. Even on the same thread.
Which means mutex locking around `OpenClipboard`/`CloseClipboard` won't work. If there is contention, it'll still fail.
The docs say nothing about this. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/winuser/nf-winuser-closeclipboard
FML.
A strategy of “mutex lock, then sleep-and-retry a few times” seems to suffice…
#programming

2026-06-04 14:52:47 UTC

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@nprofile…q6qh
Wow! That would've looked retro even when I was a kid growing up on Windows 3.1. Aside from the browser, that is.

2026-06-03 16:05:56 UTC

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@nprofile…8pur
All dogs fall into one of three categories:
* Good boy
* Gooder boy
* Goodest boy
Just kidding. They're all the goodest boy.

2026-06-03 16:01:10 UTC

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@nprofile…3fsz
Relevant #asdfmovie skit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7vuQijGKO4

2026-05-31 17:59:21 UTC

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@nprofile…7wqu
This kills the component.

2026-05-28 16:05:46 UTC

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@nprofile…a0v2
And it certainly doesn't qualify as “causing harm to computing equipment”. The equipment is fine after that, and so is everything stored on it, with the sole exception of this person's software, which has deleted itself.
Again, this doesn't even disrupt production operations, because this code is only interpreted by AI coding agents when running tests.
Unfortunately, I'm not confident that government prosecutors will understand this nuance and stay their hands…

2026-05-28 15:50:22 UTC

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@nprofile…a0v2
anttibrax-2025 threatens criminal prosecution over this.
Curious.
The code in question causes this project to delete itself when exposed to an LLM coding agent. In development environments only, not in production.
Does that qualify as “clear intent to cause damage”? I don't know about that.
It arguably demonstrates clear intent merely for one's work to not be used with an LLM coding agent, and a minimally-invasive method of enforcing this intent. Nothing criminal about that.

2026-05-27 14:54:57 UTC

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@nprofile…zsf8
When the modern book was invented, did they lament that children no longer understood how to operate a scroll?
@nprofile…jf3d

2026-05-27 05:31:05 UTC

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As for the rest, pardon my skepticism, but this sounds an awful lot like the whole “kids are being raised by TV” panic all over again. Remember that?
I remember that because, the first time they said that, they were talking about *my* generation. And the only thing wrong with my generation is that 2008 happened right after we graduated. So spare me.

2026-05-27 05:27:37 UTC

Apparently people find it alarming that kids just starting school don't know how to use a book, and are trying to swipe its pages like a touchscreen.
https://futurism.com/future-society/children-schools-books-like-phones
Of all the problems that kids may or may not be having, *this* is the one they're going to put in the headline? You've got to be kidding me.
Give the kid a book and demonstrate how to turn the pages. This isn't complicated. Kid'll figure it out. Good grief.

2026-05-26 23:00:45 UTC

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Another “safety by design” principle is that platforms are to somehow automatically block all harmful content before it is posted.
Billions of dollars and decades of work have already been done on that, and they all failed miserably. Policy-obeying content gets randomly censored and its posters banned, while bad actors speak in paper-thin euphemisms and get away scot-free.
It's impossible. Completely, absolutely impossible.
And the collateral censorship is a violation of human rights.

2026-05-26 22:45:55 UTC

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This isn't safety by design. This is making us all *less* safe.

2026-05-26 22:44:05 UTC

Some people have been preaching #SafetyByDesign principles. I would like to point out a huge problem with one of them.
Namely, the principle that profiles should be hidden by default.
This feature exists on Reddit right now. You know who uses it most? Dishonest people, who use the feature to conceal their history of dishonesty.
This allows them to do the same thing as the snake oil salesmen of the Wild West, going from town to town and running the same dishonest scheme over and over again.

2026-05-26 18:36:22 UTC

In the 20th century, some jurisdictions made pinball illegal, likening it to gambling.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinball#Relation_to_gambling
Sounds awfully familiar…
Politicians identify a problem, then loudly and proudly “solve” it by getting rid of not only the actual source of the problem but also a ridiculously overbroad swath of things that only somewhat resemble the problem.
With a sledgehammer. Literally, in this case.
And now they've identified the next “problem”: people are <checks notes> talking to each other.

2026-05-26 15:56:01 UTC

✋ wireless devices
👉 devices with retractable or easy-to-coil cables

2026-05-24 15:33:02 UTC

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@nprofile…3g4a
Also, although I use systemd myself, I would like to point out that anyone trying to *force* me to use it is indistinguishable from Microsoft.
This isn't a library or a helper binary we're talking about. It's init. It's highly opinionated and mutually exclusive with all other inits. Requiring people to either use it or abandon their apps is a Microsoft move, not a Linux move.
If that's not your intention, then I'm grateful. 🙏 But Mr Castro's statements are alarming.

2026-05-24 15:26:52 UTC

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@nprofile…3g4a
From the look of this thread https://hachyderm.io/@jorge/116607961190448307 it seems to me that Jorge Castro is to blame for that.
A simple “don't panic, we're not hard-depending on systemd” would have defused this whole thing. And that was your original intent, if I'm reading this article https://www.osnews.com/story/145071/flatpak-will-depend-on-systemd/ correctly.
Instead, Mr Castro said things like this https://hachyderm.io/@jorge/116625264102622684 and this https://hachyderm.io/@jorge/116626577636936216
With all due respect, that is not how you make Linux win.

2026-05-24 03:48:54 UTC

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@nprofile…fwgd
Like, I'm wondering if that's just some random guy who's all talk and no real authority.
I see he has a lot of GitHub activity with Bluefin, but he is not a member of the Flatpak organization on GitHub, and although he is a member of the FlatHub organization there, his contributions have been minimal.
Also, his line about needing to gather some Rust nerds https://hachyderm.io/@jorge/116607961190448307 suggests that he's all talk and isn't planning on actually carrying out his ambitious plans himself.
🤔

2026-05-24 03:27:41 UTC

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@nprofile…fwgd
Is it even real? I looked up that guy but he seems to have very little to do with the Flatpak project.

2026-05-20 15:07:56 UTC

I still think we should institute Approval Voting.
This is different from the current system in that you can #vote for more than one candidate.
That's it. That's the only difference.
Counting works the same: every ✅ is +1 to that candidate.
The win condition is the same: the candidate with the most ✅s wins.
This solves the vote-splitting problem, but unlike the ranked-choice system in some places, this adds near-zero complexity to the process of #voting and counting #votes.
#election

2026-05-19 18:57:37 UTC

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@nprofile…wek4
I mean, the name kinda implies it.

2026-05-19 18:55:34 UTC

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@nprofile…rldd
Huh? I just tried, and it seems to work fine. (I'm running LibreWolf on Linux.)

2026-05-19 18:41:58 UTC

#Reddit is now showing a sidebar on the left when they want you to log in.
Which partially obscures the content.
Because they made it position:fixed and put it on top of a placeholder element…whose width is slightly less.
Why they didn't just use position:sticky, I cannot fathom.
#webdev

2026-05-18 17:04:56 UTC

TIL that #skyscrapers contain a several-ton ball of steel or concrete, hanging from ropes or floating in liquid, functioning as a #counterweight when the #building sways with the wind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oppFoLVUsfw

2026-05-17 23:16:26 UTC

Next time somebody says something along the lines of “the government should require websites to verify that each user is not a child”, try substituting “child” with “woman”. See if it still sounds like a good idea.

2026-05-15 03:31:26 UTC

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@nprofile…x2qw
Is responsible disclosure just not a thing any more, or what? Why is every f**king thing a 0-day all of a sudden?

2026-05-13 23:28:38 UTC

✋ terminal velocity
👉 mainframe velocity
#shitpost

2026-05-13 05:58:38 UTC

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@nprofile…vx4e
That might be because seemingly every single image on Fedi is a 3MB PNG.

2026-05-13 03:40:35 UTC

Well, the name “Nightmare” is certainly apt. Destroying that damn thing is incredibly hard.
#Metroid #MetroidFusion

2026-05-12 00:26:46 UTC

“Who dares disturb my slumber?!” —this air conditioner, probably
Summer weather has arrived! ☀️

2026-05-11 22:36:47 UTC

One neat thing about #GNOME #Web (the browser formerly known as #Epiphany) is that, if you make the window really small—that is, about the size of a phone screen—the browser controls will change to a minimal phone-like appearance!
I figured this behavior was inherited from #Safari, but I happen to have a Mac in my possession at the moment, and no, desktop Safari doesn't do this. Just GNOME Web.
Interesting.
Was GNOME Web specifically designed to work without modification on phones?

2026-05-11 08:01:52 UTC

I wonder what would happen if you put up an open VNC server that controls Windows 3.1 (presumably running in a VM).

2026-05-10 19:47:13 UTC

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@nprofile…yery
I keep them in an incredibly messy and structurally unsound drawer in what is otherwise a dresser, and strewn around some desks.
I ended up killing a perfectly good video card by treating it like this.
Sadly the SO will not allow me to procure more storage racks and furniture. 😢

2026-05-10 19:43:57 UTC

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@nprofile…2c6z
They had larger brains than us, so…

2026-05-10 04:42:09 UTC

Just temporarily set this 27-inch 4K screen to 100% scale instead of the usual 150%.
Holy smokes, look how much fits on the screen! It's incredible!
Too bad I'm not still in my 20s. My eyes can't take this kind of punishment for long. But I sure wish they could…

2026-05-09 01:02:23 UTC

It's easy to forget how wide 16:9 is…until you rotate it into portrait orientation.
Then it makes the Xerox Alto's screen look square.
🤯
Now if only I could get a #screen with this width and pixel density, except 4:3. 🤤

2026-05-08 22:06:24 UTC

Yep, called it. Another zero-day local-root vulnerability in #Linux, and this time it's in the core kernel, not a module you can remove.
And this so-called #security researcher is apparently more interested in having a flashy website than in responsible disclosure.
https://ze3tar.github.io/post-zcrx.html

2026-05-08 16:24:31 UTC

Video games, tabletop games, television, comics, magazines, books—all were subjected to widespread censorship (or self-censorship) soon after their invention, the justification being that they were corrupting children's minds.
They were new, therefore they were bad. And that was the full extent of the thought process.
Eventually, they were uncensored, and then…nothing. Harmless all along.
How many times must these ridiculous knee-jerk panics happen before people learn their damn lesson?

2026-05-08 05:28:15 UTC

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@nprofile…a423
4 different Rust versions? Why?

2026-05-07 21:08:30 UTC

Oh good, another high-severity #Linux #security vulnerability that somebody botched the disclosure of, turning it into a high-severity zero-day.
Because #CopyFail wasn't bad enough. Now we've got #DirtyFrag too.
Can #cybersecurity people please stop botching vulnerability disclosure? Thanks.
https://github.com/V4bel/dirtyfrag/blob/master/README.md
#security

2026-05-06 22:22:02 UTC

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@nprofile…8udl
Oh and that frickin' laser beam is somehow guided by nanometer-sized structures called “surface plasmons” on the platter itself.
For the system to work, it has to heat and cool specific spots on the platter for no more than one nanosecond.
Normal hard drives are impossible tech, but HAMR is so impossible it makes normal hard drives look like something a kid built for a science fair.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat-assisted_magnetic_recording

2026-05-06 22:15:27 UTC

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@nprofile…8udl
That's 4 trillion ones and zeroes on one platter. The entire drive fits in the palm of your hand and can easily run on battery power.
The newer ones store something like 200 trillion bits on a couple of platters using a magnet assisted by a frickin' laser beam (i.e. HAMR).
It's absolutely insane. These machines were supposed to be impossible. Experts were proclaiming the impending end of disk drive technology 30 years ago. And yet, somehow, here we are.

2026-05-06 21:41:47 UTC

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@nprofile…8udl
HDDs are mechanical contraptions, yes, but they're some of the most precise mechanical contraptions ever made on Earth.
I've heard stories of people designing missile guidance systems who were shocked by how much more precise disk drives are.
It's like what you'd expect to see on an alien starship, if the aliens distrust solid-state tech and like machines with moving parts, but are still as technologically advanced as you'd expect aliens with starships to be.

2026-05-05 23:11:39 UTC

You know you're in the future when you can see the text “+++” on a web page and your Internet doesn't drop out before the page finishes loading.
#retrocomputing #dialup #modem

2026-05-05 04:39:11 UTC

I wonder if #OpenHardware mainframes are a thing.
Like, I know open-hardware embedded systems are around, and there are some open-hardware laptops, but what about the opposite of those little machines?
#mainframe

2026-05-04 20:37:58 UTC

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@nprofile…3wf9
What happened?

2026-05-04 20:15:04 UTC

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@nprofile…kaw9
Yeah, brains don't work very well when they run out of fuel. The human body needs about 100 watts of power in total.
It sure does a lot with those 100 watts, though. It's got molecular synthesis (see how mRNA vaccines work), chemical absorption and processing, motors, sensors, multi-layered defenses against harmful microbes, a supercomputer the size of a Mac Mini, and it can freaking regenerate damage!

2026-05-03 23:09:28 UTC

“This ship is outdated and smells like Borg.” —T'Lyn, 2381
#StarTrek #StarTrekLDS

2026-05-03 16:31:05 UTC

It's a shame we never saw any of the rooms on a Galaxy-class ship's ventral deck.
Those huge windows would be in the floor rather than the ceiling. Must look freaky.
#StarTrek #StarTrekTNG

2026-05-03 00:21:56 UTC

“Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.” —seen on a bumper sticker

2026-05-02 00:51:19 UTC

#Metroid creator Gunpei Yokoi, during the development of #SuperMetroid: “It isn't fine art! How long is this gonna take?!”
Narrator: “It was, in fact, fine art.”
#gaming #retrogaming

2026-05-01 21:28:59 UTC

When automated processes no longer fit current requirements, nobody has time to write the necessary code to update them, and so people start doing manually what used to be automated.
Is there a word for that? “Deautomation”, perhaps?
#programming #IT

2026-04-30 16:41:43 UTC

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@nprofile…3k3g
Death is final. Being converted to energy and back again is not.
Although, in the presence of a device that can convert you to energy and back again, and rearrange you in the process, one wonders how exactly it's even *possible* to permanently die in Star Trek.
@nprofile…5dlp @nprofile…2uyx @nprofile…ujul

2026-04-30 00:28:42 UTC

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@nprofile…5rsr
TFW Debian Stable doesn't have a fixed kernel package yet.

2026-04-29 20:44:33 UTC

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@nprofile…5dlp @nprofile…2uyx
Star Trek transporters canonically convert you from matter to energy and then reassemble you at the destination. Definitely not a kill-and-copy machine.
Nor is it detaching your soul (if in fact such a thing exists), or else your personality would change after your first transport.
@nprofile…ujul

2026-04-29 15:40:36 UTC

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@nprofile…kaw9
I'm sorry but you're mistaken. Here's real-world data from PageSpeed Insights for a page that has no Google Analytics and no <script> elements whatsoever.
https://mastodon.sdf.org/system/media_attachments/files/116/488/740/622/769/082/original/f98c566f050e0514.webp

2026-04-29 15:29:38 UTC

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@nprofile…kaw9
I was under the impression that Chrome itself reports the data to Google, even if there is nothing from Google (ads, analytics, etc) on your site. So as long as your visitors use Chrome, Google gets the data.
But I could be mistaken.

2026-04-29 15:19:58 UTC

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@nprofile…kaw9
Google collects performance data from Chrome, so this just means there aren't enough mobile Chrome users on your site.
https://developer.chrome.com/docs/crux/guides/pagespeed-insights

2026-04-28 20:42:21 UTC

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@nprofile…49gk
Some of these laws even prohibit charging a fee for age verification! I can't help wondering if these politicians are *trying* to wipe out non-profits.

2026-04-28 20:38:46 UTC

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@nprofile…49gk
Cannot afford to.
Age verification is devastatingly expensive. $2 per attempt, from what I saw, even if it's a kid making a failed attempt.
Only way any site can afford that is if it monetizes users' eyeballs, and the whole point of the Fediverse is to *not* do that.

2026-04-28 19:19:11 UTC

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@nprofile…49gk
Just the whole big age verification push. Age verification is expensive, so I fear it will destroy the Fediverse.

2026-04-28 18:34:49 UTC

Why? Why me? Why, in the name of protecting children, are they destroying the communities I'm part of? None of us ever harmed any children!

2026-04-28 15:43:46 UTC

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I'm going to miss you all terribly. 😭🫂

2026-04-28 15:43:23 UTC

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I work from home, so there's no one to talk to here. But even if I didn't, workplaces are for work, not hanging out.
Hanging out stopped being a thing in the 1980s. Then “stranger danger” took root and talking to people became faux pas.
Small wonder social media emerged to fill the resulting void. But now it's being turned into cable TV 2.0, and any further efforts to fill the void are prohibited by law.

2026-04-28 15:41:22 UTC

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There are no people in real life to talk to. No one talks to strangers in real life any more. At most, they utter a single sentence while walking past.
Meetups exist, but happen only occasionally, require a lengthy car ride, and that's if you're lucky enough to even find a meetup about anything you're interested in.
The only people who can easily find opportunities to socialize are the ones who like to get drunk and watch sports. Which I don't.

2026-04-28 15:37:38 UTC

Soon there will be no one to talk to.
Soon there will be no place to talk, only algorithmic social media where the algorithm shows my posts to no one, and then the AI moderator randomly bans me for no reason.
Because soon every wholesome space run by honest humans that don't monetize their users, like this one, will be illegal.
This world is no longer worth living in. All that was once good is being systematically destroyed, by every government, all at once.
And no one cares.

2026-04-27 13:56:32 UTC

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@nprofile…8yrp
The closest I know of is mrustc. https://github.com/thepowersgang/mrustc It's a relatively simple Rust compiler written in C++.
It generally assumes your program is valid. In particular, it doesn't do borrow checking (although that is planned).
The main purpose of mrustc is to compile the regular Rust compiler on a machine where there is a C++ compiler but no Rust compiler.

2026-04-27 03:31:17 UTC

You know, a residential gigabit fiber line can handle the load of a Fedi site, and dynamic DNS can mitigate the dynamic-IP problem if I'm not mistaken.
Which means kids can, and some will, run their own social media sites.
Are we going to fine them millions of dollars for failing to age-verify themselves?

2026-04-27 01:31:32 UTC

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@nprofile…kaw9
Have you had any trouble with PCIDSS compliance?

2026-04-26 03:55:28 UTC

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Well, except the physical effort required. Assembling a computer from parts is pretty tiring when you're in your 40s and you have to do it on the floor! 😵

2026-04-26 03:53:09 UTC

I'm in my 40s and still don't have any trouble setting up new devices. Jealous? 😏
https://www.reddit.com/r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu/comments/gbjlx/you_dont_realize_until_it_is_too_late/
https://imgur.com/you-dont-realize-until-is-too-late-eJSuf
#Reddit #RageComic
https://mastodon.sdf.org/system/media_attachments/files/116/468/961/870/344/579/original/7bf70a759d36d3a8.jpg

2026-04-25 02:46:10 UTC

What #Firefox #LibreWolf extension are people using for script blocking these days?
I'm still using #uMatrix, and it works, but it's unmaintained, so…
#browser

2026-04-25 01:38:37 UTC

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@nprofile…w99j
And what would you sacrifice it for? The convenience of not having to set up parental controls on the devices you give your children?
Are you perhaps worried that your kids will find some other adult who will give them another, unlocked device to use? Because even with age verification they can still do that!
@nprofile…2y0d

2026-04-25 01:33:39 UTC

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@nprofile…w99j
Let's not. Kids are people, not property to be muted at a whim. If they have something to say, the government has no business stopping them from saying it in the place where the general public will hear them, and in 2026 that place is social media.
Frankly I'm shocked at how quickly freedom of speech flies out the window. When I was in school, I was taught that freedom of speech is sacred and our ancestors died for it! Am I the only one who took it to heart?
@nprofile…2y0d

2026-04-24 18:05:02 UTC

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@nprofile…hmpg
Even normal people are finding each other online now.
When's the last time you saw strangers walk up to each other on the street, strike up a conversation, and walk away together as friends?
I'm not sure why society is so atomized—why streets and shops are so eerily devoid of human voices now—but people have taken their refuge from this phenomenon on social media, and clamping down on it is only going to make the problem worse.
@nprofile…5k2y

2026-04-24 15:35:05 UTC

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@nprofile…5k2y
As for torturing and sickening people:
I was bullied out of school at the age of 12. After that, my only source of friendship and conversation was online. My main source of joy was tinkering with computers.
If I had been banned from computers and the Internet, as is now being proposed for children that age, I would have had nothing to do and no one but my parents to talk to.
*That* is torture. *That* would have made me sick. And that isn't being perpetrated by social media companies.

2026-04-23 23:56:32 UTC

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@nprofile…cslf
I am mildly curious, but I'm not debugging any games, so this doesn't really matter to me. 🤷‍♂️

2026-04-23 23:46:13 UTC

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@nprofile…cslf
Sure, because the game will un-grab the mouse when you try to switch away. But what if the game gets suspended by a debugger? Then it never gets a chance to release the grab.

2026-04-23 23:44:07 UTC

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@nprofile…7sv6
Heh. Last time I tried invoking an interactive TSR while an app was in graphics mode, it nuked my entire hard drive. Had to restore a backup.

2026-04-23 23:42:28 UTC

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@nprofile…cslf
And, again, even if popup menus were implemented in some other way that doesn't grab the mouse and potentially soft-lock the desktop, this will still be a problem when running a video game in a debugger.

2026-04-23 23:41:43 UTC

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@nprofile…cslf
In my scenario, nobody stole the focus. That's not the problem.
A popup menu legitimately had the focus, which includes a mouse grab so that clicking outside the menu causes the menu to go away.
But then, before the menu actually goes away, the debugger suspends the app. The app never gets a chance to dismiss the menu, and I can't interact with the debugger to resume or terminate the app. *That* is what soft-locked my desktop.

2026-04-23 23:33:01 UTC

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@nprofile…cslf
This is Java Swing with the X11 backend, so it implements popup menus the old-fashioned way. Wayland probably has some other, saner way of dismissing menus without grabbing the mouse like this, but that doesn't do me any good here.

2026-04-23 23:30:07 UTC

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@nprofile…cslf
Kwin allows apps to grab the mouse, if that's what you mean. I think most window managers do.
This sort of grab is typically done for popup menus and the like, so that the menu is dismissed if you click outside it. But obviously that can't happen if a debugger has suspended the app that's showing the menu…